To Be Free
by wolf's lament
Summary: one shot. After BEGA, Kai and Brooklyn find a way to get on with their lives, though not in the way they initially plan.


**The thing to be careful of is that there are really two stories in normal font is the present story and in italics is what happens to Kai before the story takes place.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything, but the plot.**

A boy was sitting on the grass with birds around him. Even when he moved the birds would stay close, some of them even hopped onto him hoping for some seed, but he did not have any with him. He looked up at the sky and remembered the brief period when he could fly. Then suddenly a realisation took place: he was never truly free.

Even when he had had the ability to fly he was trapped by the thing that had given him flight. Now on the ground he could not be forever with the birds. He was Brooklyn, one of the greatest beybladers in the world, but not as great as Tyson… or the _other_ one.

Something scared the birds as they flew into the sky in the opposite direction to where he was looking. Brooklyn turned around to see a shadowed figure as the birds flew close past it and one settled on its shoulder. As the figure came into the light Brooklyn recognised him: the one who brought his demise.

Brooklyn tried not to ever think about him, as it only brought pain. The boy had been nothing, yet was powerful and skilled enough to defeat _him._ It didn't make sense to Brooklyn how that boy had beaten him; every time Brooklyn had played the battle in his mind the outcome did not make sense, it did not add up!

Brooklyn was broken out of his thoughts as the boy made his way towards him. He could not even remember the boy's name now; Zeus had seen to that when he wiped Brooklyn's memory of that battle. Even now he could not remember much other then his feelings of victory when he thought he had won and the pain at the realisation of his loss.

By now the boy was in front of him, making Brooklyn jump and build up with anger at the same time. That bird was still on the boy's shoulder, and Brooklyn thought he was the only one that the birds trusted enough; again he had been proven wrong by this boy. Suddenly thinking, he realised the only times he had been wrong were when this boy was in question, this made him angry, but before he could take his anger out on the boy, the boy spoke.

"I thought I'd find you out here."

"_Well it looks like you'll be able to go since you seem capable of being taken care of by your friends."_

_Kai stood there with one hand supporting him on a cane to keep his balance. He listened to what the doctor had to say with mild interest as he stared at the one person who always stood by him: the World Champion Tyson. _

"_I'm glad they're letting you out so soon." Kai looked away from Tyson in shame "Dude are you OK Kai?"_

_Kai looked into Tyson's eyes trying to find the answer before he asked. "Why? Why are you always there for me even when I betrayed you for a second time?"_

"_We needed you." Tyson really did not know the answer to that. There was something inside of him that would always trust Kai._

"_I'm such a jerk." Kai gave a small laugh. "I can't believe how selfish I've been to all of you. Tyson I…I'm sorry."_

_Kai was about to leave when Tyson took his arm. "You'll make it worse if you run."_

_Kai could not understand. "Couldn't you find anyone else? Have I held your victory hostage the whole time?"_

"_You were the only one who could beat Brooklyn." Although Tyson kept a straight face he could not believe how much this was affecting Kai._

"_It's taken me this long… to see…" Kai bowed to Tyson. "I will never be able to make up for my mistakes. I am sorry for the pain and stress I caused you Tyson."_

"_Then do something about it."_

_For a moment the two looked at each other and they both understood. Kai turned and left "Tyson. I'm not the strong person you seem to think I am."_

_Tyson stood there wondering if Kai was going to leave again. "No. You're stronger." This time he did not follow._

It was blunt and strait to the point, making Brooklyn even less happy. "Why don't you just leave me alone? Everyone else has abandoned me anyway."

"_I should have known you'd thank Tyson this way. I don't know why he cares what happens to you, but he does. Can't you ignore your pride and accept that we're your friends?" Ray stood in front of Kai._

"_Don't worry Ray I won't be coming back, so I won't be hurting Tyson anymore." Kai looked into Ray's eyes. "I came to apologise for what I did to you."_

_Ray stood wide-eyed as Kai left for good. _

The boy gave a small smile that seemed to take away all of Brooklyn's murderous thoughts about him. The bird perched on his shoulder jumped off and flew onto Brooklyn's hand, making him smile.

_Laughter was heard as Kai approached Max. It was then that he saw the other teams. As soon as he was seen the laughter stopped._

"_What do you want?" Was the comment from Michael._

"_I just come to say goodbye and that I'm sorry for the trouble I caused."_

"_That's it?" The outraged comment was from Lee. "Ray deserved a victory over BEGA more than you did. You're nothing more than a parasite who feeds off the ability of other players and then leaves them when you've finished."_

"_Come on Lee that was a bit harsh." Max was torn between supporting his teammates or Kai. _

"_No Max." Max turned to look at Kai. "I don't deserve any of your sympathy for what I did."_

_Max ran up to Kai, half-whispering, "You don't deserve that kind of criticism from them."_

"_Did you forget the Russian tournament?"_

"_They've forgiven the others on the Demolition Boys."_

"_The other Demolition Boys didn't take their bit-beasts." Kai gave a small smile to Max. "I know I never showed it, but I really appreciated you being there. Good luck in the future."_

"_You make it sound so final." Max did not get an answer._

"Why..?" But the boy cut him off.

"She likes you more. I may like animals, but I get along best with cats, so birds are always going to be a bit weary of me. By the way, my name's Kai." Kai stuck out his hand to Brooklyn.

"_Tyson said you were leaving." Daichi was with the cats that had earlier in the year stolen his lunch._

"_Yeah."_

"_He really wants you to stay," Daichi looked at Kai, "and so do I."_

Before Brooklyn could ponder the boy's strange ways he had taken Kai's hand on instinct.

Kai sat down next to Brooklyn and looked at him briefly, "I wanted to introduce myself to you because we didn't meet at the best of times. I figured you wouldn't mind starting over."

"_I thought you were better than this Kai my boy."_

"_It's not fair on them Romero."_

"_There is a reason you always go back to them and they always accept you." Kai looked up at Romero. "Sometimes you need to put the past behind you and learn from your mistakes." Then he was gone._

Brooklyn only smiled, but that was enough for Kai. He made a mental note to thank Tyson for opening up his mind and for showing him that there is always room to forgive.

"_Kai."_

"_Hilary, what are you doing here?"_

_The girl smiled. "Once again I am trying to prevent you from making the worst mistake of your life."_

"_How?" Kai looked past Hilary. "Tyson."_

"_You two need to really talk. I'll hopefully see you later." Hilary half-skipped away as Tyson stood in front of Kai._

"_I know I can't stop you from leaving, but I just wanted to tell you something."_

Thanks to Tyson Kai realised that no matter what things you do in life you can become someone who you never would have thought of becoming. For him it was the idea of trying to help someone who had almost killed him.

"_I think that's about it. If you do decide to stay here I'm having a party tomorrow…"_

Brooklyn could not believe that Kai did not hold a grudge against him when the All Starz and White Tigers had after the tournament. From what he had known they disliked Kai anyway, so why they were the first to shun him was what he had not understood.

Brooklyn suddenly noticed Kai's bandages and a horrible feeling formed in his stomach, but he still asked the question: "How long until you get them off?"

Kai looked at him a smirk appeared on his lips, "Two weeks. What about the therapy you're on?"

"Same. Well, after that I have to go less regularly, just to see if I've recovered." It was strange that they were both 'hurt' for the same amount of time: his was mental and Kai's was physical. Brooklyn started to wonder if they were really as different as he had originally thought.

"Why did you come?" Brooklyn looked back towards the sky as the bird flew away.

"Tyson." Brooklyn could not help but smile at the thought of that boy. "He made me realise that I was being a jerk if I didn't give you a second chance and another chance to myself." He gave a half chuckle, half sigh, "That's Tyson for you. If he thinks you have even a tiny trace of good in you he'll never let you down."

"How can someone be like that?"

Kai gave a genuine smile, "No idea, but I'm sure he must crack under the pressure of being so trusting. Maybe it's because he's never been wrong in the end." Kai stood up and looked at Brooklyn. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but if Tyson trusts you then I do too."

"When you cut me off. I didn't want to know why the bird went to me… I wanted to know why you fought against all odds to beat me."

"I know. Well at first it was revenge."

_"Kai I'm not letting you leave with us." Tala stood in front of Kai. "You will do a lot more good here." And with that Tala ripped Kai's ticket. "It's time you started over with them. You deserve it as much as they do."_

"I realised that was not the way to win and the thought that all of my friends supported me helped me to defeat you. No matter how much I try to deny it I'm never alone."

Kai turned to leave and added: "By the way, Tyson's having a party tomorrow. It's at four in the afternoon where the old BEGA building was." And then he was gone.

Brooklyn could not believe it. All the insecurities that he had felt a few minutes ago did not matter. Kai, the one who he could not defeat and almost killed, wanted to be his friend. Maybe he did not have wings anymore, but he then realised; you do not need wings to fly.

It is time to start over again.

Both smiled. "I am truly free."

**I would really appreciate reviews, as this is the first fic that I have done. Criticism is welcome, but please tell me why so I can improve the writing. **


End file.
